Empowering women to live their healthiest life

Sunday = Football Day

Each Sunday, it’s a huge football day in our house. After church, our Sunday afternoons are filled with watching football games, listening to football games, and looking up all the scores. As I’ve mentioned before, my husband is a huge Chicago Bears fan and football obsessed, so football will always be a big deal in our house. Fortunately, I’m used to all of the football talk and games always playing on Sundays, as my dad is just as a lover of football as my husband.

Needless to say, when football is on, there’s always beer, soda, chips, hamburgers, and other goodies surrounding the television. I don’t know about you, but it can be pretty difficult for me to keep my hands off all of the not-so-good-for-you food that’s constantly staring me down as we watch the games.

Fortunately, I have some great tips to share with you from Molly Kimball, a Registered Dietician, nutrition expert, and Crystal Light Pure spokesperson, to help overcome some of the unhealthy food temptations that often surround football games. She has some healthier snack and drink alternatives that are still satisfying and don’t take the fun out of all the yummy treats and snacks! Take these tips with you to the football games, to football parties, or in front of your own television.

Here are some Better-For-You Tips from Molly:

1. Take dipping beyond chips and queso by making your favorite creamy dips low cal with plain lowfat Greek yogurt in place of sour cream and mayo. Liven up plain old salsa by adding freshly diced tomatoes and chopped cilantro, or – even better – make your favorite salsa from scratch.

3. Make finger sandwiches better by using whole grain bread, lean meats like turkey, ham, chicken, or roast beef, with thinly-sliced cheese and light mayo. Or roll turkey and veggies into high fiber tortillas, and slice into pinwheels. Quesadillas can be another not-so-guilty indulgence – just stick with whole grain tortillas, lean meats, reduced-fat shredded cheese, and pile on the veggies.

4. Healthy grilling doesn’t mean you’re stuck with just plain chicken. Seasoned, grilled and sliced, pork loin can easily become finger food. No buns or rolls needed. Beef or chicken satay can be lean options. And kebobs are always a hit, made with lean meat or seafood and skewered with veggies like tomatoes, zucchini, onions and mushrooms.

5. And stay refreshed and well-hydrated by sipping on naturally sweetened Crystal Light Pure. It’s sweetened with sugar and Truvia, a natural sweetener derived from the stevia plant, and has no artificial flavors or preservatives. Just tuck a few packets into your purse or pocket and you’re good to go!

Thanks to Kraft Foods and Crystal Light, I was able to sample three of their Crystal Light Pure flavors. I tried the Lemonade, Grape, and Strawberry Kiwi flavors. All three of them tasted great and made my drink a little more exciting when I was starting to get bored with water. Each Crystal Light Pure flavor doesn’t include any added preservatives, artificial sweeteners, or artificial flavors. Better yet, they only are 15 calories per serving. Another thing I really liked about these was that both the Grape and Strawberry Kiwi flavors have extra electrolytes to help refuel during and/or after a workout. If you ever feel like you’re starting to get bored with water, I would definitely recommend picking up some of these Crystal Light Pure packets! Take them with you to the games, to parties, or enjoy one if you need a little more excitement other than water.

Questions:

What are some of your favorite healthy snack alternatives to munch on at sporting events or other “get together” parties?

Have you ever tried any of the Crystal Light Pure flavors? If so, what are your favorites?

Those are good tips! Honestly, sometimes I just let myself splurge when I’m around that kind of food because I don’t usually eat it so I figure one day won’t hurt haha. And I’ll have to try crystal light pure! I can definitely get sick of water sometimes.